White Shadows
by Pantherpelt
Summary: A year has passed since the 5th Grail War. Strange forces have plagued the city. Shirou Emiya wants to put a stop to the chaos, but can you truly kill a shadow?
1. Chapter 1: The Raid

_A/N: Well, here goes nothing. This is my first Fanfic, so hope you enjoy! Constructive criticism is appreciated, and, well, I guess that's pretty much it!_

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Chapter 1: The Raid

_Hero._

_That term is often misjudged._

_What makes a hero?_

_Is it how many people you save?_

_Is it how much you're willing to sacrifice?_

_Or is it how many you're willing to kill?_

_Harsh reality makes it the last one._

_And that is precisely why Emiya Shirou will never be a true hero._

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_Live. Live. Stay alive. LIVE._

This was all that was going through Shirou's mind at this moment. They were everywhere. Searching. Scanning. All that they wanted was mindless bloodshed. Shirou wasn't going to stand up for it.

That's what Shirou thought in the first place. But now? Not so much. What could he do when they wanted him? Nothing. He hated it. Hated his weakness. But there was nothing he could do right now.

What were they anyway? Shirou had no idea. In fact, probably no one did. But everyone knew that they were dangerous. It was quite obvious.

Shirou saw a dark looming shadow behind him, throwing him back into the present. The beast was white, with two rows of sharp teeth. It had no visible eyes on its long, oval head. The beast stood on its back legs and extended its long, curved claws…

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_The blood._

"Ah!" Shirou woke with a start. Still in his blood stained clothes, Shirou's first thought was to make himself presentable for Sakura and Fuji-nee. Shirou checked the clock. Shouldn't they be here already? Wait…

_Blood._

A horrendous thought broke into Shirou's mind. Did… did they… get taken? W-why? Shirou's mind burned with rage.

"_These… things… whatever they are… are bent on destruction. Why, I don't know. But they don't seem to kill certain beings. They merely… how should I put it… capture them." Rin had stated in the past._

This was not the first time Shirou had come across their type. They were a menace to all. Their heads were dementedly long, and ovular. Their body was slim, but their skinny arms ended in huge claws, two large ones on each hand and one small one, kind of like a thumb. They had no visible eyes, two rows of huge teeth, and their feet were like talons. Each beast had a different symbol imprinted in their heads in red.

"No…" muttered Shirou. _They're gone? But that leaves…_

"Onii-chan!" Illya burst into the room. "Where's my breakfast?! Where's Sakura?! I'm HUNGRY!"

"…" Shirou was silent.

Illya finally noticed Shirou's appearance. "Onii-chan… did something happen? Your clothes…"

"Are covered with blood, yes." Shirou had a hard time getting his voice to work. "Didn't you notice the 'raid' last night? They came again."

Illya stood there, silent for a moment, and then dashed out of the room. Shirou didn't know why, and, right now, didn't care. Shirou didn't notice the door open and close, didn't notice the fact that Illya went out on her own, because Shirou didn't care. What was the point of caring?

It seemed like hours passed, when, Illya, now accompanied by Rin, who was holding a large book, came into Shirou's room.

"Emiya-kun, what happened to you last night?" Tosaka started. "They came last night, but what--"

"I couldn't protect them. I didn't help them. I wasn't strong enough, wasn't good enough to save them." Shirou cut her off. "Because of my weakness--"

Now it was Rin's turn to cut someone off. "Shirou!" Shirou flinched. "Being a hero doesn't mean saving everyone! Nobody can do that! So stop… stop beating yourself up!" Rin was on the verge of tears, but in a moment she composed herself. "Anyway… I came here because Illya told me you needed help. I'm here to give you that help.

Shirou was confused. Actually, much more than that. "Wait, I-"

"Let me finish! As I was saying, I'm here to give you that help, by getting someone to help you," Rin finished.

"Wait, who could possibly--" Shirou didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.

Rin and Illya simultaneously grinned.

"Saber?"


	2. Chapter 2: The Summoning

_A/N: Well, here's chapter 2! I hope you all liked chapter 1 (please, PLEASE have liked it!), and I'm pretty sure that ending feels incomplete. It is. Read on and enjoy!_

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Chapter 2: The Summoning

"What? You're saying… you mean…" stammered Shirou.

"What do I have to gain from lying to you, Emiya-kun?"

Shirou started counting the reasons in his head, earning him a glare from Rin, who in turn glared at her. How did she read his thought like that?

"Ahem. So, now that that's established, how about we get started?" said Illya, breaking the silence of the glare-off, which Rin seemed to have won.

"Oh, ok," Rin said, suddenly returning to reality. "First, we need some type of object to help us summon her."

"I—hold on," Shirou stammered as he dashed out of the room. A few seconds later he returned with a stuffed lion.

"Ha!!! Ahh…!" Illya and Rin stifled a laugh. "That? THAT's going to help us summon Saber?!" Illya choked out between laughs.

"Shirou, I know that represents her…sorta… but let's be realistic here, a stuffed lion isn't going to cut it. Seriously."

Shirou started, "Actually, on our…date,"

Illya snickered.

"…I got this for Saber, but not really because… uh, well you see—"

"Anyway," Rin cut him off, "let's just get this done, okay? I'm already starting to regret this."

The group walked out when Shirou suddenly realized he had no idea whatsoever where they were going and how the summoning was to work out. Rin, somehow reading his thoughts, said "Ugh. Do I have to explain everything? We're going into your dojo, because the magical concentration is highest there. It'd be hard to do the summoning anywhere else."

After they reached the dojo, Shirou saw, or rather felt, what Rin meant. It'd been a while since he went in there last; what, two, maybe three months? Anyway, with the things that were going on now, Shirou had no time to be training much anymore, there was too much going on right now, and plus, from the recent battles, he got more than enough training.

Rin had insisted Shirou not help with anything, not touch anything, blah blah blah. So he stood there waiting as Rin and Illya made preparations when a thought popped into Shirou's head; "Hey, Rin, how are you going to summon Saber without starting a new war?"

Rin hardly reacted to his question, except for replying in a flat voice, "I'm a very talented magus (Archer said this), Shirou. Do you doubt I have this all figured out?"

Shirou did have his doubts, but he didn't say anything. Rin glared at him anyway, as if reading his mind. How was she doing this?? Suddenly, Illya said, "We're done! Oh, wait; onii-chan has no idea how to summon a servant, does he? I guess that means more work for me and Tosaka-san." Illya sighed, making Shirou feel even guiltier for not being able to help.

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Saber, in all her glory, stood there before them. She slowly opened her eyes, as she said, "Servant Saber reporting. I ask of you, are you my mas—"By this time, Saber could completely comprehend what was going on, where she was, and, more importantly, who was in front of her.

"S-Shirou? What—"Saber was cut off when she felt Shirou's arms around her, and she immediately returned the hug. Saber didn't know why she was here. She didn't know why Shirou was here. She didn't know what was going to happen in the future. But none of that mattered right now. Right now, all that mattered was that she was with her love, nothing else. She could feel the tears wetting her eyes, and she fought them, but they won, trickling freely down her face. All the time they had spent together… she thought she would never see him again. She was wrong, and she was glad.

They sat there, enjoying being together again. Tosaka sighed, for two reasons. One was that she, with Archer, had seen them like this many times before, and every time, Rin and Archer had agreed that Shirou and Saber's relationship was always 'going to stay on a kindergarten level.' The second reason was Archer himself. Rin had loved him. She didn't want to admit it, not to anyone, not even herself, and too late did she realize it. Archer was gone. Rin bit her lip. How ironic.

It was 11:48 at night. Everyone in the Emiya household had turned in for the night. Everyone but one. That one was Rin. She silently snuck into the dojo, and began making a magic circle. Began preparations for one's arrival. She had made up her mind. She had to see him again.

"Archer…"

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Unknown to all, someone was lusting for blood that night. That someone was approaching the dojo of the Emiya household. That someone knew who was in there. That someone wouldn't let Rin see another day.

"Target spotted. Approaching for the kill."


	3. Chapter 3: The First Assault

_A/N: Well, the cliffhanger probably left you on your toes. Hope you like the story so far! Don't forget to post lots of reviews, and enjoy chapter 3!_

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Chapter 3: The First Assault

When Saber awoke she noticed something was amiss. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but something was wrong.

One, someone had been here.

Two, someone had left. Actually, make that more than one person had left. But why? Plus, someone, or something, was still lurking around. Saber couldn't go back to sleep, so she got up to inspect. Waking Shirou could put him in danger, because he'd want to search with her.

Rin had told Saber about the current situations, with the "White Shadows" as the townspeople called them, the white beings who terrorized the city. Rin had also mentioned that Shirou was trying to fight them off single-handedly. Saber didn't think he'd improve in such a short time. But had he'd really improved enough to fight the new terrors in the city? Saber had her doubts.

Searching the house, Saber realized that the presence was not in the house, but in the dojo. Slowly approaching the door, she got ready for anything but what she came to face when she threw open the door.

Nothing.

"Wh-What?" Saber stuttered out loud, confused by the emptiness of the dojo. She was sure that there was still someone or something in the house, which she had searched, so the only option left was here, in the dojo. But… where was it?

"SCCHHHEREEECCHH!!!" an earsplitting screech from above broke the silence.

"What."

The figure lunged at her from the ceiling.

"The."

It raised a hooked claw.

"HELL!!" Saber yelled as she drew Invisible Air and swung up at the attacking figure.

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Shirou jolted up with a start at the sound of metal meeting…whatever it met at that moment. It was horribly loud, and sounded like…

"… Don't tell me…"

But what Shirou was thinking was true. The White Shadows had found him. The only person who was capable of standing up to them. The only obstacle. It was only a matter of time before the master of these beasts decided that that obstacle had to be eradicated. That obstacle was in this house.

Shirou's first thought was to help whoever was fighting off these beasts, but before he left, he realized that he needed to get dressed. How embarrassing would it be to go out not properly dressed? Very.

When Shirou was ready (considering he was dressed, nothing more), Shirou had to find the source of the sounds. Not too hard, considering that the noises were loud, metallic, and irritating to some. Shirou found the sounds to be coming from the dojo, so he traced Kansho and Bakuya (Archer's yin-yang swords, to those who don't know), and ran into the fray.

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This isn't good.

Saber dashed forward at the white beast, only to have to stop short and go on the defensive once more. She parried a blow to her left, and then ducked under a swipe to her head. The beast jumped back, distancing it and Saber, but its claws seemed to get closer. It was too late that Saber realized that they were. The claws would've run her chest through, if not for one person who couldn't stand on the sidelines, even if it was better for everyone if he did.

"Saber!"

Shirou threw Bakuya, the curved white shortsword parrying the blow at the last moment. The stunned beast's claw retracted in an attempt to be ready to block off Shirou, but the attempt failed.

"Too slow."

Faster than the eye can register, Shirou had dashed, almost flew, up to the beast and slashed its waist with Kansho. At this time, Shirou traced Bakuya again and uppercutted the wounded beast in an attempt to finish it off. However, the White Shadow crossed its claws and blocked the blow, only to have its head filled with puncture wounds from Kansho. The White Shadow nearly collapsed, but suddenly Saber, seeing an opportunity, put Invisible Air behind the beast, so when it collapsed, it got sliced in half. How gruesome.

"Ugh. Now I have to clean this mess up."

Yes, the White Shadows didn't disappear like servants did in the Holy Grail Wars; they just made a big mess of purple blood and body parts. This sight made Saber want to hurl. However, her composed self and strict discipline helped her refrain from doing so all over the dojo floor. Well, living with Shirou and his friends changed the discipline part a lot, but, oh well. It wasn't bad, though, was it?

"This place rots like hell." Saber emotionlessly stated.

Shirou froze. That was… unexpected from a composed person like Saber. Shirou didn't say anything, but was shocked nonetheless. He left the dojo and returned with cleaning supplies. Naturally, Saber, disregarding that the place 'rots like hell,' helped Shirou clean up the body.

"By the way, where's Tosaka?" Shirou asked Saber, suddenly realizing her absence. Saber shrugged in response.

Panic suddenly overwhelmed Shirou. Where was she? Had the White Shadow they encountered 'taken' her? That would be bad. Actually, bad isn't enough to describe it. Oh no.

_Much, much later…_

"Saber, why don't we go in for lunch and—"

A white and blue blur zipped past Shirou, and he heard the word "lunch" repeated over and over.

"—discuss where Rin may be," Shirou finished.

At least someone was happy.

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"_I… can't keep this up much longer… hurry… Shirou…"_  
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_A/N...again: Yeah, all my chapters seem really rushed in the plot. Wow. This is my first fanfic, though, and I'm proud of it. Anyway, seeing as all my chapters are unbelievably short, I think I'm going to make a bunch of small chapters for this fanfic. The good news is that they won't take long to make! See you next chapter!_


	4. Chapter 4: The Portal

_A/N: This chapter is kinda rushed, but I guess you could say this all so far is a prolouge. I have to get to the main storyline that I wanted to do now, so... yeah... Anyway, I need to know you people out there are reading. There's not really any point in typing this if nobody is reading. If you're supporting me, please post some review, at least say 'I'm reading!' I'm begging you people!_

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Chapter 4: The Portal

"_I can't keep this up much longer…"_

_Rin fired multiple Gand shots at the approaching army of White Shadows._

_Archer traced a broadsword and kept on hacking away at the fiends, only to be knocked back once again by the sheer force of numbers._

"_Hurry…"_

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Illya, obviously roused awake before, joined Shirou and Saber for a 'brunch,' seeing as no one had time to have eaten breakfast.

Getting right to the point, Illya stated "Well, seeing as you're the White Shadows' only threat, they'd try to wipe you out as well as your allies, right? So Rin must have been killed or abducted by them."

"No, Tosaka is a powerful magus. She wouldn't be beaten so easily, would she?" Shirou asked.

"No, probably not, but there is a chance, seeing as she was unarmed."

"Wrong."

Everyone froze. Did Saber know something that Illya and Shirou didn't? Yes.

"I witnessed Rin summon Archer. I- I thought it would be okay not to tell you, since we're allied, but-"

"Now we don't know what happened after that." Shirou finished.

The three sat in silence, only the clack of chopsticks and the occasional chewing heard. Saber, unexpectedly, ate at an almost normal pace, obviously deep in thought. They all had something to think about at that meal.

When they all were finished their silent lunch, Shirou spoke up.

"We have to find them." Shirou bluntly stated.

"No duh, but how do we find out where they are?" Illya asked.

Shirou hadn't thought about it, so no reply came from his open mouth.

"Assuming that they were attacked, and are still alive, they probably ran off, because now that the White Shadows know where we are, this territory isn't exactly safe anymore. But where would they go?" inquired Saber.

"We'll just have to find out."

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After searching the city with no luck, the group ponders the absence of Rin and Archer some more. Eventually, they decide to search around where the incident happened, where the attack happened.

Shirou scowled. Not only were his friends missing (make that a singular 'friend,' Archer isn't exactly a friend to Shirou), now he had to go running all over looking for some clue to where they are, and Shirou doesn't have a clue where the clue is. Now Shirou doesn't have a clue why he's saying clue so much.

After searching for a while in the dojo, Shirou finds something. What it is, he doesn't know. That's why his conscience tells him not to touch it. To hell with his conscience, Shirou's going to touch it.

"SABER!!" is Shirou's last audible words before he's sucked into a small vortex. Luckily, everyone in the house, and probably the neighborhood, heard him.

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Saber and Illya burst into the dojo to find…nothing. Again. Frustrated at the fact that she keeps on entering the dojo to find nothing, Saber kicks the wall, and unexpectedly a closet door, and the door fell backwards. Then the door disappeared with a demented 'shlop' sound. Wait, what? Saber and Illya very carefully tiptoed towards the closet. Saber pushed back the junk in the closet to find a ominous swirling black orb, suspended in the air. It seems to be alive with mana, and wondering what this is, Saber touches it. Big mistake.

SHLOP! Saber's gone. Illya, thinking "What the heck," touches it and follows Saber and Shirou into a warped dimension, one which nobody ever can sin enough to deserve to go there.

The Shadowlight plain…


	5. Chapter 5: Engulfed

_A/N: It took me a bit longer for this chapter to come out, because there were a lot of things that needed to be changed. However, this is where we really start our main story, so I guess you could say that the wait makes it worthwhile. Anyway, there's finally a battle scene in this chapter. Don't forget, review and enjoy!_

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Chapter 5: Engulfed

Everyone makes mistakes, and that's okay, said one wise person, once.

What a load of bull. Must've not have taken a lot to be considered wise back then.

Shirou had pretty much committed suicide by touching that ominous ball floating in the closet. How much stupider can you get? Not much.

"Ugh. Now where am I?" Shirou grumbled, cursing his own carelessness. Shirou wasn't worried. He'd been in bizarre situations similar to this one. He was just falling. Or was he? Was he going anywhere at all? Nobody could tell in the immense darkness. The never ending darkness. No big deal. Been in darkness before, no biggie. But now how was Shirou going to get out of the darkness?

"Shirou!" A familiar voice made itself audible in the darkness.

"Saber?"

"SHIROU!! WHERE ARE YOU?! I—"

"Auugh! Stop yelling! My ears are bleeding!" Shirou cut Saber off, yelling in a pathetic attempt at sarcasam.

"… No. Seriously, onii-chan, that was awful." Illya's bored voice broke into the conversation.

Shirou hung his head, assuming he knew his way down in this blank void. "Wait, where are we? There seems to be no gravity and I can't see a thing." To make his point, Shirou waved his hand vigorously in front of his face, not that anyone noticed, or, in that case, cared.

"So how did you guys get here?" Shirou asked.

"Maybe because your yell was ear-splittingly loud, and probably woke the dead." Saber coldly retorted.

"…" Shirou didn't know he was THAT loud.

Breaking the awkward silence, Illya suggested "Why don't we concentrate on getting out of here? We still don't know where we are, and neither do we know where—"

THUD!

Right on cue, the endless darkness gave way to… more darkness. However, The group could make out a plain, completely gray and lifeless, and a black starless sky.

"This is an improvement. Now we know exactly where we are," Shirou sarcastically spit out.

"Well, at least we can see." Saber blandly stated.

Now, even Shirou was worried. Sure, he'd ended up in darkness quite a bit, but when he came out (this sometimes took a while), he was still in the place he started. Ending up on a barren plain was new for him.

After some time (this wasn't very long), something happened. About time. It started as a small thumping in the distance, and then gradually turned into ground-shaking pounding. Everyone's senses were on overdrive.

"Now what…?" and overly casual Shirou asked.

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Just when they thought they were done for, Archer and Rin noticed they didn't have the army of White Shadows' full attention anymore. Why, they didn't know, and didn't really care. It was a relief to not have to fight as much as before, although they were attacked.

"_What could turn the enemy away from a threat? The only thing could be… a bigger threat?_" wondered Rin.

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"…You're kidding."

Shirou sighed, despite the mass hoards of deadly enemies quickly approaching them. As the White Shadows madly dashed towards them, Saber readied Invisible Air, but the Shadows didn't notice (it's invisible, heh). Shirou calmly traced a halberd and moved into a ready stance. The White Shadows didn't flinch, until when they were in range. Shirou's eyes sharpened into a threatening, almost murderous glare, and he chopped two Shadows clean in half horizontally. Then, without breaking step, spun into the air, and came down, and vertically slashed one. There was no reaction from it, until its body caught up and it fell in half. Saber followed suit, relentlessly hacking away at the mass numbers of White Shadows. However, the Shadows did leave their mark. Shirou, from the White Shadows' long claws, got a puncture wound in his left arm. Saber was slashed down her body, and shallow wounds decorated both their bodies all over. However, the battle was not over, as there were many more White Shadows. Panting, the two pressed on, struggling to survive. Suddenly, a battle cry rang through the air as a white short sword cut through two, three, and then four White Shadows, but was parried by a fifth. The recognizable short sword fell to the ground. It was all too familiar. Shirou turned to its owner.

"Archer!"

"So, you guys still alive? I'm impressed. You've improved, Shirou."

Shirou just stared. Well, not really, because without turning around, he decapitated a White Shadow behind him by spinning his halberd. It was unusual for Archer to complement anyone, much less Shirou.

Archer back flipped to avoid being sliced in half by the razor claws of the White Shadows. Suddenly, a black orb crashed into the side of the Shadow's head, knocking it down. Rin stood there for a moment, before ducking and back kicking a Shadow who attempted to slash her behind her. Archer re-traced Kansho (the black short sword) and furiously, and almost desperately, parried random, rapid attacks from all sides, before landing a few slashes of his own. Saber and Shirou were having slight trouble, taking a blow here and there, Rin was, so far, successfully holding back the White Shadows with powerful spells, and Illya was simply creating shields and agilely dodging attacks. It didn't look good for them, as the White Shadows were taking advantage of their numbers to strategically overpower the group.

"Aaugh!"

Saber turned to see Illya overpowered and slashed by a White Shadow. Although the wound was shallow, it was large, across her waist.

"Illya! Are you alright?!" Saber didn't wait for a response, as Saber quickly ran to Illya to shield her from further attacks. It wasn't easy. The White Shadows saw the state of Illya, and tried to take her out easily. Saber struggled to fend off the White Shadows.

'_This battle may never end…can we hold our own? _' Shirou wondered as he struck down another White Shadow.

No. Not at this rate. It would be over soon; Shirou was wounded severely in his left arm, Saber stuck protecting a barely conscious Illya, Rin and Archer surrounded… and there were still more White Shadows coming.

'_What will we do…?'_

This question was answered in a moment: nothing.

"Shadowlight!"

A flash of white and black obscured everyone's sight, but the light soon faded, to show bloody, dismantled White Shadows littering the plain. All turned to the attacker to see someone in a black and white suit of armor. The armor's colors of black and white were constantly moving, around and around, twisting, spiraling, dancing with each other on the armor. The helmet had only a black visor on the front, making it impossible to make out the wearer's face. The armor was relatively simple, other than the fact that black and white were constantly moving on it. There was a white scarf around the warrior's neck, made of undetermined material, but had significant power of some sort. The warrior held a black one-sided broadsword at his or her side, which had a black blade with white lines going through it. The blade guard was crafted to look like feathery white wings, and the hilt was white with black cloth around it and a black crystal at the end of it.

The warrior said in a female voice, "Elailust, wielder of Kaikuro, is here. Are you a friend or foe?"

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_A/N...again: Yeah, I don't go away, do I? Anyway, there's a new character (finally), and now we're going to get background on the location and pretty much everything else in the next chapter. Carrot-sama (for those who didn't read my profile, my editor), doesn't really edit anything anymore, but she's still a help. She's going to try to draw Elailust, so be ready for an awesome picture (if I can find somewhere to put it)!_


	6. Chapter 6: Something in Nothing

_A/N: Wow. I haven't updated in a really long time. Sorry. Between school and things, I couldn't type much. Sorry. The Elailust picture is still in the works, too. However, Now that school's over, after cram school and stuff, I'll have a lot of time to update. I'm kinda... no, REALLY bad at all that romance crud, though, so...I dunno. I'll try to pull some off. See you next chapter!_

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Chapter 6: Something in Nothing

The warrior removed her helmet. Fairly long, slightly messy, sky blue hair spilled out of it. There, the warrior, supposedly named 'Elailust', stood there, unmasked. Her face was pure, and apathetic. She seemed to have no emotions at all. In her hair was a black headband.

"I ask again, are you with, or against?" Elailust asked, cool patience remaining in her voice.

Rin stepped forward. "We do not mean any harm to you, unless you intend on attacking first."

Elailust stood there for a moment, and then shoved her sword into the ground, surprising Rin. "As a symbol of my friendship, I now sheath Kaikuro in the earth, the element of protection. Come forth, and we shall discuss your sudden appearance in this land where nothing is everything, and everything is nothing."

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"I am the sole being that keeps this world from overcoming the world you know of, the dimension you are native to."

Elailust was clearly not a normal person, assuming she was human. This was one of many observations that Saber had made. It was also clear that Elailust had incomparable power, much more than they had ever encountered. What she was capable of made Saber shudder. I mean, she did take out all those White Shadows.

"My blade is called Kaikuro. It is my weapon, the main weapon I use to defeat the White Shadows. It is composed of both light and shadow, bound together by the gems on the bottom of the blade and the bottom of the hilt." Elailust said in her usual monotone voice.

"But who are you? Are you an epic spirit?" inquired Rin.

"… No, I am not an epic spirit, but I have no intention of revealing my identity to you."

That killed the conversation. No one dared approach Elailust after that, for fear she may become angry for their pestering her. Shirou looked around the barren plain, and wondered what may be at the end of it, assuming the plain did end. It probably didn't. Most alternate dimensions were like that.

After that, Elailust went to retrieve Kaikuro from the ground. Shirou, probably along with the others, wondered how Elailust had received such a powerful weapon. Maybe he'd never find out.

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"Ugh." Archer mumbled something under his breath, obviously bored. There was no escaping the endlessness of the plain they were on, and, therefore, nothing to do.

Archer lay on his back with his hands fanned out. Rin sat there sitting upright eating a chocolate bar, also immensely bored.

"…Where…did…you get that?!" Archer jolted upright, desperate for food, only now realizing he was hungry. When Rin didn't respond, sitting there staring into space with a dead fish gaze, munching on her chocolate, Archer frantically glanced around, only to find Shirou fiddling with some mechanical parts trying to put together…something, and Saber eating bowl after bowl of instant noodles. Illya had some sort of portable game console, and her fingers were moving faster than anyone ever would have imagined possible.

"What…I…but…how…me…hungry?" Archer murmured, obviously amazed and perplexed at the scene. When he finally regained control of his vocal chords, he bellowed, "WHERE the heck did you get this stuff?! Didn't any of you consider asking ME about my wants? Huh? Huh? HUH?!" Rin chuckled at this childish pouting Archer made a scene of himself with. Saber jolted and spilled some of her soup, and Shirou managed to get something to explode in his face.

Elailust suddenly gripped Archer from the shoulder from behind, wherever she came from, and calmly said, "Stop yelling or I'll rip your guts out. You're giving me a headache."

"…" Nobody said a word. None of them had expected anyone capable of saying something like that with a straight face. Rin had to use all her willpower to restrain herself from busting out laughing, and Saber had her mouth hanging open, and some noodles hung from the side of her mouth. Shirou was rolling around in silent agony because, well, something exploded in his face!

Elailust yawned and walked over to a previously unseen knapsack. She pulled something out of it and very quickly and tossed it to Archer. It hit Archer in the head and he fell backwards. When he got up, he saw a small package of teriyaki chicken. Archer's mouth watered as he barbarically ripped open the package and shoved his face into it, noisily eating. Everyone stared at this display, as Elailust was just about to toss a pair of chopsticks to him.

"… Okay, then, that's fine too…" Elailust awkwardly put the chopsticks back into her bag. Even she had never seen someone eat like a dog…

Archer, realizing what he was doing, suddenly jerked his head out of the dish. His face was smeared in sauce and chicken bits, and the front of his hair was stained chicken colored. Rin burst out laughing. Elailust sighed. Saber continued to stare at the bizarre spectacle. Shirou was running in circles, his face still in pain. Illya was stifling a huge laugh.

Elailust, suddenly next to Archer, suddenly assaulted his face with a wet towel. Archer fell on the ground mumbling, and Elailust punched his stomach to shut him up. Then she finished wiping him and got up, but Archer stayed down.

"Uuhhh…" Archer laid there groaning until Rin started kicking him. He jolted up and felt his face. No more chicken or sauce. This was astounding, seeing that it was coated in it just a few moments ago. She really wasn't human. Nobody could have ever cleaned his hair in such a short time. She was scary.

Then, the relaxed aura broke. Suddenly, the air grew tense and cold. Shirou, still laid back said "What, did the temperature just drop twenty degrees, or what?"

"…" Archer glared at Shirou, but they hated each other anyway, so Shirou ignored him.

"Neh. Elailust, what's going on?"

"Shh…!" Suddenly Elailust leapt backwards, a knife piercing the ground where she once stood.

Everyone looked up to face the attacker. There was nobody seen to be responsible for the attack.

"Deja-vu..." Saber muttered under her breath.

Suddenly a knife rocketed towards Shirou. He simply stepped to the side casually and the knife sunk into the ground.

Wait… SUNK INTO the ground?

Saber crouched down in amazement. Where did the knife go? Who was attacking? White Shadows didn't throw knives.

Suddenly, Shirou stiffened. He traced a claymore, and took on a defensive stance. Elailust also seemed to notice something, as she also tensed up.

"We're surrounded."

Suddenly, as if to prove Elailust's point, a spray of daggers shot at them from multiple directions. Rin shot multiple gand blasts to deflect the deadly projectiles. Archer slashed at them. There wasn't an overwhelming number of daggers, so there wasn't any need for extra support. Soon enough, their attackers appeared, surrounding them.

They were completely black, and humanoid in shape. They each wore a jingasa on their heads, except for one, who wore a kabuto. Some wore robes, some wore full body armor. Each had an identical large broadsword at their belts, and all had a pouch of many projectiles. The one wearing a kabuto pointed their broadsword at the group. He began to speak, although no mouth was there to move, and no word was comprehendible. However, it seemed that Elailust understood well enough.

"We have to get out of here."

"Sounds good, but I don't see an exit," retorted Illya.

"Then we'll just have to make one!"

Ripping Kaikuro out of the ground, Elailust leapt at one of the humanoid black figures. She swung down, then disappeared from sight and reappeared behind the figure and uppercutted it. It slid out of the way, and stabbed upwards at Elailust, only to have Elailust turn upside down in midair and parry the blow. She then righted herself and landed sword first on the beast. In a sickening 'Splurch,' Kaikuro went through the black figure's 'head,' and it disintegrated.

"Run!"

The others needed no further prompting. A blade whizzed by Shirou's head, cutting off a tuff of red-orange hair. They took off, seeing that they were in no position to fight right now. Elailust ran behind them, occasionally slashing backwards at those who got too close.

Soon, Rin had a thought. She proved it by saying it as loud as she could in Archer's ear.

"Wait, WHERE are we GOING?" Archer yelped and stumbled, and was in visible pain.

"Elailust, messily putting her helmet on, said "I have it covered!"

Elailust leapt to the front of the group, and did a flip-slash in midair. A huge gash in the air, however that was possible, formed, and Elailust yelled "Jump in!"

With the weird black humanoid things catching up, nobody argued. Soon, everyone ran in, and Elailust went last. She muttered an incantation, and the hole started sealing up. With one last glance at the figures, she jumped in, and the hole sealed up.

--------------------

"Oof!" Shirou landed on hard pavement. He looked around. Was this…?

"Am I home?"

Shirou was on the ground right outside his house. Well, it looked like his house, at least. He got up, brushed himself off, and looked around. He was in the middle of the street, and surprised that nobody had hit him yet. He slinked cautiously to his empty house, and quickly entered the gates. It was weird enough that there was nobody outside, but what was inside was worse. When Shirou entered his house, he saw an empty white. There was no reality in his house. Bewildered, Shirou started to turn back outside, when…

"Since you're here, I'm afraid I can't let you live. Nothing personal."

_AAAAUUGGGH!!!_


End file.
